Police were sent to a home around 10 p.m. regarding “a domestic situation involving a firearm,” Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Special Agent James Ciotti said in a press conference. “Upon arrival, officers approached the residence. There was a brief conversation between the officers and a male inside.”

“Initial reports indicate the man pulled a gun and shot a Girard police officer,” he continued. “The second officer returned fire and the male inside was hit and pronounced dead at the scene.”

A radio call for an “officer down” included an officer telling a dispatcher there was a man with several firearms who had been drinking all day.

“Justin Leo was a young man I knew most of his life,” Girard Mayor Justin Melfi said during the press conference. “An absolute gentleman and someone who the city has been proud of since he had been here with us. Our communities, prayers and thoughts go out to Leo’s family.”